Cycling UK Forum

ANTONISH wrote:
And there are no cycling bullies riding through red lights on pedestrian crossings and riding too fast on shared use paths or cycling on dedicated pedestrian paths ?

Of course there are. But to date, they aren't killing as many people per mile as drivers do. And as cyclists, we get it from both sides, careless pedestrains stepping out in front of us, dog walkers knocking us over with their leads and out of control dogs.
As for drivers, I went into town the other day. At just the first lights, three cars went through at red. I lose count of how many drivers break the speed limit when I'm out driving.

karlt wrote:The woman jumped the shark a long time ago, alas.

"Jumped the Shark"? IMHO the atrocious woman should have been fed to one years ago!

BTW I'm a diver, I LOVE sharks. They're such beautiful & majestic animals. My favourites are hammerheads, they're so perfectly evolved for their environment.

Anyway, back to JSP. It is my honest belief that she only joined the "Ramblers Association" because she thought it was a club for people who incessantly talk a load of old sewage!

Rant Over.

Flinders wrote:

ANTONISH wrote:
And there are no cycling bullies riding through red lights on pedestrian crossings and riding too fast on shared use paths or cycling on dedicated pedestrian paths ?

Of course there are. But to date, they aren't killing as many people per mile as drivers do. And as cyclists, we get it from both sides, careless pedestrians stepping out in front of us, dog walkers knocking us over with their leads and out of control dogs.
As for drivers, I went into town the other day. At just the first lights, three cars went through at red. I lose count of how many drivers break the speed limit when I'm out driving.

Quite. It is rare indeed these days to see drivers of motor vehicles obeying the speed limit or not using mobile phones; unless of course they are in a works vehicle which has telemetry and cameras fitted to enforce the rules. This is happening more often with big companies with liveried fleets, it has been shown to significantly decrease accidents hence insurance premiums in fleets- and it also saves money on fuel.

Anecdotally, I have noticed (both on my bike and in my car) that with the increasing size of cars and the popularity of the SUV-types, the level of discourtesy has risen as has the unwillingness to drive within the speed limit in increasingly busy built-up areas. (There was a very good song "I drive a four-by-four four-door fortress" by Chumbawumba which I think sums it up). Cars around here regularly go through red lights, into yellow boxes, block toucan crossings in a queue so when the lights change, the cyclists and pedestrians waiting to cross have a slalom course around their vehicles.

Yes, I also see plonkers on bikes, but as a proportion of them to the overall cycling population, it seems much lower, as compared to the proportion of plonkers in cars. I also feel for the horse riders in our area, we have some nice lanes near the local stables but there is a proportion of (almost always SUV) drivers who use them as rat-runs.

Why is everyone in such a hurry all the time?

TPO

ThePinkOne wrote:
Yes, I also see plonkers on bikes, but as a proportion of them to the overall cycling population, it seems much lower, as compared to the proportion of plonkers in cars. I also feel for the horse riders in our area, we have some nice lanes near the local stables but there is a proportion of (almost always SUV) drivers who use them as rat-runs.

I too see many a cycling plonker,idiotic manoeuvres,jumping on and off the kerb,RLJing,etc,etc but their impact on the safety of the general populous of road users is minimal,that's not to say they shouldn't be brought to book over their idiocy.
By comparison the amount of idiotic driving I see on a daily basis is downright stupid and positively dangerous to all and sundry with scant regard for anyone but self.
I could write a book about it but won't bore people with even one hours worth of driving only yesterday,save to say there were a few people endangered by what I witnessed,and which is by no means unusual.
As for putting a stop to it,the diabolically lenient sentence handed out to this maniac will do little to impact on it:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36396341
Or the diabolical attitude and lack of care for human life of the driver in this thread,speaks for itself:- viewtopic.php?f=7&t=106329

Why is everyone in such a hurry all the time?

IMHO it's because we're a 'driven' society living under an erroneous belief that we must do everything at such a fast pace otherwise we'll be left behind and somehow be losers,and everyone one wants to be a winner,right?.
Twice yesterday whilst driving at or juusssttt under the speed limit I was zoomed past by drivers well in excess 10mph of the well posted 30mph limit in heavy traffic,only for me to catch and overtake them at the next TL as they waited in an all too apparent left turning line of traffic.
It's utter madness to risk life,limb and licence for no or very little gain,and I can't understand why these people can't see the stupidity of their actions

The 'elephant in the room' is being totally ignored whilst society focuses on the tiniest squeak of the mouse passing by the window

Edited to add

You're overlooking the sheer unfairness of it all. There you are - been a good boy and stopped at the red light.
And when it turns green the seven cars in front of you get through - but you are supposed to wait again! Why?
It's not something a red blooded man can tolerate...

Attempted wit apart, I do feel that this is part of what is going on. It's remarkable just how often every car in the queue goes regardless of when the green light disappears.

DaveP wrote:Attempted wit apart, I do feel that this is part of what is going on. It's remarkable just how often every car in the queue goes regardless of when the green light disappears.

It's almost as if they feel they've waited long enough so have earned their right to go,whatever the three colour choice

Well they pay their road tax,right?

reohn2 wrote:

DaveP wrote:Attempted wit apart, I do feel that this is part of what is going on. It's remarkable just how often every car in the queue goes regardless of when the green light disappears.

It's almost as if they feel they've waited long enough so have earned their right to go,whatever the three colour choice

Well they pay their road tax,right?

The rot started here when we started to have a lot of very badly managed road works. (At times, every arterial road into the town had some road works on it). Drivers got worked up, and started to jump lights. Once they started to do that, junctions got blocked (even diamond ones). In some places, at peak times, only one car got through at green, sometimes none. So more cars went through at red. The place was regularly approaching or at gridlock.
This was reported to the local plod, who just said that Staffordshire's record for road accidents was better than average. The fact that records were then and the rljing is now appeared to be irrelevant.
Now there are fewer roadworks, people have got into the habit of rljing and it's now just accepted as the way the locals drive.
If you come to Stafford, be afraid - and be very afraid if you're on a bike or are a pedestrian.

Flinders wrote:The rot started here when we started to have a lot of very badly managed road works. (At times, every arterial road into the town had some road works on it). Drivers got worked up, and started to jump lights. Once they started to do that, junctions got blocked (even diamond ones). In some places, at peak times, only one car got through at green, sometimes none. So more cars went through at red. The place was regularly approaching or at gridlock.
This was reported to the local plod, who just said that Staffordshire's record for road accidents was better than average. The fact that records were then and the rljing is now appeared to be irrelevant.
Now there are fewer roadworks, people have got into the habit of rljing and it's now just accepted as the way the locals drive.
If you come to Stafford, be afraid - and be very afraid if you're on a bike or are a pedestrian.

It's the usual scenario,bad highway planning,and an impotent and undermanned police force not able to deal with the problems caused as a result.
I see the same things happening on a smaller scale all over our local area.

Just think how good traffic and travel would be if you got rid of all the bad drivers.

My god she's such a total idiot. And Rees-mogg isn't much better, he just talks over the answers he doesn't like. Why aren't helmets compulsory for cyclists?? What the hell has that to do with congestion? Why isn't a colostomy bag compulsory for her gob?

As a motorist I'm brutally aware that only ONE thing makes life crap for motorist - too many motorists. Would they prefer all those cyclists to be in cars instead? A cyclist "wandering all over the road" still takes up less space than a car whether wandering or not. It's the same old assumption that roads are for cars and everyone else is allowed on sufferance, by the generous tolerance of the magnanimous motorist whose patience is being taken shocking advantage of.

Sometimes I think these twits aren't bothered about transport efficiency at all, they're just venting hatred under pretext. Everyone wants to feel they're a victim of something, motorists are now "victims" of cyclists. A cyclist that gets past you and out of your way is the best thing for a motorist, but that's never the mentality, the obsession seems to be to prevent cyclists getting where they're going. JSP and JRM are like toddlers in a sandpit, perceiving unfairness, but from a biased viewpoint, and with no concept of a mutually beneficial end result, as long as they can rant on in self-righteous indignation without any regard to stats or reality.

Good on Gilligan for staying calm, unbelievable! I've mediated at more advanced debates between three-year-olds.

The long and short on cyclists' bad behaviour is it's irritating but relatively harmless, infractions that on a bike might make you fall off, in a car can wipe out several lives - cyclists get away with more because it's not equivalent. Average of pedestrians killed by cyclists is currently at 1.5 per year I think? vs. almost 3000 for cars? but moral bravery requires people to look at themselves, which is too much for most. As cyclists we can look at ourselves, but what have we actually done? You want to reduce road deaths? Want to reduce congestion? Then drive less, cycle/walk more and stop sniping at everyone else.

Signed grumpy old man, Banbury

+1

I've seen as many idiots on bikes as I have in cars. Thankfully the vast majority of road users manage to get on well together.